Modern Age Online

Kaleb woke to the sound of someone pounding on his front door. The heat lamps above his bed still hummed quietly as he rolled out of bed. He wasn’t as sluggish as he’d been the first time he woke up in his lizard body, but he still felt groggy. Glancing at the clock, he figured it had more to do with it being 7 in the morning than his physiology.

The knocking persisted as Kaleb got dressed, forgoing his normal lab coat for a dark blue pea coat he found in his closet. Moving to the front door and looking through the peephole, he saw the familiar Dark blue letterman jacket and brown hair of Roy Nova. Opening the door and looking down at Roy, Kaleb had to know.

“Why aren’t you in school?”

Roy chuckled stepping around Kaleb and entering his home said “Its Saturday, Doc. I thought I’d come over. See if I could help out.” Standing in Kaleb’s kitchen the boy looked excited and wide awake.

Seeing Roy reminded Kaleb that he’d promised to make defenses for Nova Hardware. Closing the door and moving into the kitchen Kaleb started his coffee maker. Cleaning off the countertop and arranging dishes in his sink Kaleb thought about what he could make.

“Y’know I was about to work on some defenses for your mom and pop’s store.” Kaleb said motioning for Roy to follow him and moving into The Pit. Kaleb walked to his workbench and equipped his headband and communicator. He left his communicator turned off though, he doubted Farrah was awake, anyway.

Roy look excitedly at the various weapons Kaleb had arrayed on the workbench. He reached out to touch Kaleb’s rail gun before the lizard flicked his hand with his robotic fingers.

“Don’t touch, especially that one.” Kaleb ordered trying to sound authoritative

Roy just nodded still smiling and asked “So what are we building?”

Kaleb smiled back. “Does your store have a security gate?”

Roy’s smiled faltered probably disappointed at the mundanity of the invention. “Well, I think it did, it has the slot for one. But I think grandpa got rid of it.”

Kaleb nodded. “Good, what I need you to do is go back to your store and measure how much space we’re working with. How much space the fence needs, how wide the slot for the fence is, and how much space is behind the counter. Have you got that?”

Roy nodded, not as excited anymore but still looking eager to work. Kaleb nodded back and opened his garage door carefully. The morning air was nice and Roy jumped straight into his truck in Kaleb’s wide driveway and drove off.

Waving goodbye as Roy drove away Kaleb went back to his workbench and laptop. Pulling up the emails he had gotten from Farrah last night, he clicked on the first one. It was the trainers information, apparently he was an Ultrarian retired Super named Postal. The name did not instill confidence in Kaleb. Postal’s dojo was in downtown Austin and he had a meeting with him on Monday.

Archive the first email Kaleb was about to click on the second when he received another from Farrah titled ‘Turn on the communicator.’ Smiling to himself Kaleb switched on the small communicator on his wrist.

“You listen hear you petulant gecko, you can’t just ignore the facts. Maybe I was out of line but -”

Kaleb cut her off before she continued to berate him. “Farrah, I understand. And don’t pretend that Ternion didn’t keep you updated on what else happened last night.”

Farrah gave a sniff and Kaleb swore he could hear her cross her arms. “And the police from last night. And despite what the rules state, the HLO has awarded you the full reward for last night’s patrol and Villain subjugation.”

Kaleb gave a snort as he tapped on his workbench, bringing up the shopping window and bringing up lab coats. He asked “I bet that just burned your ass, huh?”

Farrah’s voice became indignant “Yes, I argued against such a decision. But not because of your actions. Because they prohibit the situation in the HLO guidelines.”

Kaleb checked his credit balance, seeing he had an extra 450 credits after last night. Buying a new lab coat and book bag for 65 credits. He moved to the front door saying “Let’s just agree that we had a rough first night. We have to get into the groove of this partnership.”

As Kaleb arrived at the front door, his doorbell rang and Farrah said “Agreed, I will try to be a little more understanding of your ignorance and you can try to think before you act.”

Signing for his packages from the speedster, Kaleb was about to respond when the speedster did “Oi, Farrah is that you? So it’s true you’re working as a handler now?”

“Oh, hey Chip, long time no see. Yes, I’m a Handler now.” Farrah said.

Chip gave a short grunt before continuing “Good to see you’re still in the game at least. I’ll tell Kara I heard from you. Gotta go. Bye.”

“Bye, Chip.” Farrah said as Kaleb closed his front door and shook he’s head incredulous.

“You really know everyone, don’t you, Farrah?” Kaleb asked as he opened his package and set about putting his new lab coat on.

Farrah let out a loud sigh. “I met many people during my time as a Super with the SPPD.”

Kaleb could feel the questions burning in his mind but he thought it best to steer clear. Returning to his workbench, he went back to looking through the shop. Thinking of a safer question he asked “What are you doing up this early on a Saturday? Got another shift at the HLO?”

Farrah sounded surprised at the direction change but answered “No I’m monitoring you from home. I set it up to notify me when you stopped being a gecko on turned on your recorder.”

“Once again, do normal Super’s Handlers monitor them from home or is this a special service for a Mundane?” Kaleb asked slightly defensive.

Farrah adopted her Teacher Mode tone again “I think this is our problem: you feel like your being underestimated all the time and I don’t want to lose my first Super.”

Kaleb nodded as he put a few of the Knowledge Books into his virtual basket along with a MIG Welder saying. “I’ve got something to prove, and you’d rather I’d not kill myself trying to prove it.” Kaleb agreed with her assessment. The whole reason he chose Mundane was because he wanted the challenge.

“Exactly,” Farrah said “Why are you buying information books on Mutant physiology and the Magical Councils?”

Kaleb exhaled loudly “I thought that was the point about last night. I don’t know enough about the different Super types. This is me trying to learn.”

Farrah sighed this time and said “I know that and I’m happy you’re learning. My question is why are you BUYING them. You could have just asked me, I have those books. I’ll send a speedster around with them tomorrow evening.”

“Oh” Kaleb said, removing the books from his shopping basket. “Thanks, that would be great.”

“No problem.” Farrah sound happy to help. “So, what else are you doing after helping Roy’s family?”

Kaleb placed two more items into his online shopping cart and hit buy before answering “Today is an inventing day. After helping the Nova family, I will work on building a better weapon and equipment. Lumpy and the armor were both rush jobs.” Thinking quickly he added “I hope that’s ok. We don’t have another patrol tonight, do we?”

Farrah gave a short laugh. “No, the HLO requires Rank E Supers to patrol once a week. Once you’ve done it, you’re on your own time. Handlers can help by pointing you to high-risk areas and handing out the occasional HLO mission.”

“I think it best to keep the talk about Super work on the down low while Roy is in The Pit.” Said Kaleb as he moved toward his front door again. Grabbing a cup of coffee, it surprised Kaleb that he had to wait for a full 10 seconds before the doorbell rang.

Opening the front door, Kaleb met another speedster. This one looked sweaty and tired as he asked “Where do you want it chief?”

Kaleb stepped outside and pointed at the right-hand side of his two-car garage. “Just set it down in the driveway for now, I’ll move it in when I make room.”

“Whatever you want, chief.” The speedster said as he moved Kaleb’s order to where he had pointed.

“What do you want with an anvil, anyway?” The speedster asked.

“I’m a registered Super. I’m making my equipment.” Kaleb answered.

The speedster gave him a quizzically look saying “You know you can just buy equipment from K-Tech or one of the other tech companies.”

Kaleb just nodded, not bothering to explain. The speedster shook his head and made his way to the street saying “You’re just lucky a speedster with super-strength was on the clock today. If I wasn’t, they’d have used a truck.” The speedster waved then took off down the street.

Removing the sword mold and the crystals from the package that came with the anvil, Kaleb cleaned out his garage. After 15 minutes of cleaning and casual conversation with Farrah, Kaleb saw Roy’s truck turn into his driveway. The younger Nova almost leapt out of his truck when finished parking and ran over to Kaleb holding a notepad. Kaleb looked over the numbers Roy had written about the dimensions he would need for a security gate. As he moved into the garage followed by Roy, Farrah spoke up.

“Morning, Mr. Nova.” She said.

Roy smiled wide as he seemed to recognize the voice “Is that you, Ms. Kyneklos?”

“Yes, Mr. Nova. I’m the Professor’s Handler. While you will not be going on missions. I am happy to be working with you.” Farrah’s tone made it clear exactly what she thought him going doing Super hero work.

Kaleb gave a snort saying “Easy, Farrah, I’ve told you his just my assistant.”

“I’m making sure he knows.” Farrah said stiffly.

Roy’s permanent smile never wavered. “Believe me, Doc, I’m used to it. So far my parents have told me different versions of the same thing repeatedly today.” His eyes traveled around the garage as he tried to take in everything. He looked like he was trying to memorize everything.

“So what are we doing today, Doc?” Roy asked.

Kaleb looked up from the notepad and grinned his toothy grin. “I’m glad you asked, free lab-, I mean Roy.” Kaleb waved his hand at the garage as he went to take his wrist communicator off and placed it on his workbench.

“I’ll be working on the security gate for your parent’s store, while you will clean out our workspace.” Tapping the table Kaleb continued “If you get bored, Farrah has proven a wonderful conversationalist.” Kaleb moved to collect what he needed.

“But I can help with the security gate too.” Roy said setting his jacket aside and moving to help.

“Oh,” Kaleb said “Ok, I’ll collect the metal sheets and you grab a few spools of cupnex wiring.” He waved vaguely toward his shelf of plastic tubs and set about grabbing his metal sheeting and MIG welder.

Roy shuffled around the shelving unit, looking into each of the plastic bins. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but he stubbornly stood around for almost five minutes before he gave up and started cleaning the garage floor, moving the various odds and ends into the different boxes.

Farrah’s voice echoed in the garage as Kaleb got ready to clean the metal before welding. “That was mean, professor.”

Kaleb smiled as he searched his pegboard for his angle grinder “It was a lesson in realizing one’s current limits. It was kinder than the lesson I got last night. There wasn’t a large tree involved.”

Farrah stifled a laugh as Roy asked “What happened last night?”

Kaleb prepared the metal as best he could as Farrah recounted their adventures from last night. Eventually he would need Roy to be his hands. But for now he wanted The Pit cleaned first. The pair worked into the morning. Farrah kept them company as she went around her daily routine at home. Occasionally Roy would ask about a certain item or where Kaleb wanted a something. Now and then while working Kaleb would see white text appear at the bottom center of his vision. Showing Roy’s base stats were going up.

CON +1

INT +1

CON+ 1

…

Eventually the numbers slowed and Roy finished up with the smaller items. The bins were full to the brim in places. Roy moved on to moving the bigger items and Kaleb stopped what he was doing to help with moving the anvil.

Once the place was clean, and they had found a place for the large collection of metal plates and sheets, Kaleb said, “Ok, Roy, take 20 minutes, rest up. Get water from the kitchen then come back in. I’m gonna need your help soon, but first I’ve got something else you need to do.”

Roy nodded and moved to the kitchen as Kaleb went back to working with the metal. Shortly afterword, a notification popped up in his vision.

*Metalworking skill level up*

Speed at working with metal raised to 3%

Chance to change the condition of lower grade metals: 2%

Kaleb smiled as his skill raised and continued working almost sure he could feel the speed increase. Farrah’s voice almost surprised him. She had stopped talking for a time, saying she would get herself food.

“What are you going to have him do?” She asked.

Kaleb watched the open door to his kitchen as he whispered. “He’s in good shape, but he’s gonna have to train harder if he wants to be a Super.”

Farrah’s frown was audible as she said “I thought you weren’t encouraging him.”

“I’m not encouraging him. I’m preparing him.” Kaleb responded

“Is that any different.” Farrah sounded annoyed.

Kaleb sighed still staring at the kitchen door and pulling out lengths of wire he would need. “Everyone who meets that kid knows: it’s not a matter of stopping him anymore. It’s about preparing him.”

Kaleb laid out the wire and continued “As soon as he turns 18 he will try to register and if someone somehow stops him, he’ll just be an unregistered Super.”

“I don’t like it, but you’re right. School ends next Friday. The Wednesday after he’ll turn 18; It wouldn’t surprise me if he tries to register that day.” Farrah said worriedly.

“11 days, not a lot of time to prepare him. But I’ll do my best. Any chance your friend Postal would take another Mundane?” Kaleb asked.

Farrah didn’t seem hopeful “I can ask, but he probably won’t.”

“Then all we can do is prepare him as best we can.” Kaleb said.

Farrah seemed to come up with an idea saying “Or he could sign on as your partner or sidekick.” she sounded excited at the prospect. But, Kaleb was not sure about being responsible for the boy. Especially after what Farrah had said at the HLO.

Kaleb asked “What’s the difference and what would that accomplish except get me killed if he ever bit off more than he could chew?”

Farrah sounded distracted as she explained. “Well, if you can raise your rank before he registers you can take him on as a sidekick. It will require him to apprentice under you for another year and you’ll have an assistant. But, if you are both the same rank you can register as partners. There are lots of benefits to having someone to train and go on missions with.”

Kaleb thought about it. He was sure the system was telling him that having a partner would probably increase his skill learning abilities or have other benefits. Roy walked back in as Kaleb measured out the metal sheets.

“Ok, Roy. You ready?” Once Kaleb got a nod as answer Kaleb pointed out his garage door. “Give me a lap around the block then come back here. After that it’s 75 push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Then you’re gonna take Lumpy and give me 200 practice swings.”

When Kaleb finished Roy looked confused asking “Lumpy?”

Kaleb gave an awkward smile and pointed at his Bladeling sword. “It was my first attempt at a sword. It did not go well. But it is rather heavy, but the main point of that exercise is the form. I don’t care if you swing it like a bat or chop it like a sword. Try to memorize the same form every time.”

Once he was sure Roy knew what he was doing he sent the kid off running. As soon as Roy started his run Farrah spoke up. “You realize that’s barely a light workout, don’t you?”

Kaleb answered “Yes, I know. But I don’t want him too tired he will need to help here soon.” He went over to his shelving unit and dug into the crystal bin. Pulling out a yellow crystal he thought, Man I use a lot of the yellow crystals.

As he moved back over to his pile of sheets and wires Farrah asked him. “What are you gonna do? Create an electric security fence?”

Kaleb gave a noncommittal head bob saying “uhhhh sort of, once we do the welding, we will thread as much of the cupnex wiring into the metal as possible. It’s the same wiring as my Taser Egg if you remember.”

Farrah gave a soft snort. “Who could forget the Taser Egg?”

Choosing to ignore her implied insult to his naming sense Kaleb continued. “Once the threading is complete we will wire it to the yellow crystal. The hope is that once they run a current through the cupnex, its rigidity will strengthen the gate.”

“You sure love those yellow crystal.” Farrah commented.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. This one wasn’t as expensive as the one for the rail gun, but I am spending a load of money on these things. I wish I knew where they mined them.” Kaleb lamented.

Farrah chuckled. “They don’t mine them, they’re grown. The Elentia council grows and controls the entire power crystal industry.”

“The government allows them to have a monopoly?” Kaleb asked.

Once again Farrah adopted her Teacher Mode tone. “The growing and caring for crystals is a religious rite to the Elentia. When they first discussed selling their sacred crystals, the Elentia council had the contract stipulate that only they could sell the power crystals for as long as the Elentia council was alive. Humanity readily agreed. Not knowing, barring accidents, the Elentian’s are pretty much immortal. The Elentia council is still laughing about that one.”

“The other Aliens didn’t warn the humans?” Kaleb asked.

“A combination of fear, mistrust and greedy people hurt a lot of early negotiations during the early days. The government has reformed a lot of the old trade deals since then but the Elentia enjoy their monopoly and have no plans of stopping.” Farrah explained.

Kaleb asked another question while staring at the yellow crystal. “Any chance I could learn how to grow them.”

“No, the Elentia council would have to name you a ‘Race Friend’. That has never happened. There was a rumor they allowed an inventor from Vulcan industries to learn, but the Elentian’s have denied giving anyone the secret.” Farrah said.

Kaleb sighed loudly “Well then I guess I’m stuck buying these things. Until I come up with a comparable power source.”

Farrah fell silent as Kaleb went about preparing things. Once he got everything to where he could do no more, he set aside the welding equipment. Waiting for Roy, Kaleb moved over to his DIY smelter.

The system had made the smelter from an old oil drum with the air intake through the bottom. He had initially tried to smelt down a few pieces of Benny. But, the melting point proved to be hotter than his smelter could get. Making sure the smelter was no longer hot, he removed the crucible and studied the inside. Deciding on a plan of action he moved over to his workbench and brought up his blueprint maker.

He wanted to use his newly purchased red crystals to enhance his smelter somehow. So, he would make his smelter a gadget using Research Points to enhance it. Coming up with a vague blueprint he set the workbench to automatic and watched his RP drop to 15.

Roy returned from his run and started on his other exercises while the enhanced smelter built itself around them. If either Roy or Farrah found the automatic building process weird, they didn’t say so. Joining Roy in the sit-ups and squats, it surprised Kaleb and happy to see gains for both.

*Endurance Skill level up*

Stamina increased by 12%

CON +1

He now had the same level of Endurance as Roy did. After they had finished the work out Roy took Lumpy and began swinging. Kaleb talked quietly Farrah while he waited for the smelter to finish.

Standing up from his position near the workbench Kaleb asked. “Do you need to rest or are you ready to give me a hand?” Waving his one hand Kaleb grinned.

“Let me get a glass of water and I’ll be right with you.” Roy said as he ran inside to the kitchen. Shouting from inside he asked. “You need me to do the welding?”

Kaleb shouted back. “Yes. Have you ever done it before?”

Roy walked out to the garage with a glass of water saying. “once or twice for robotics class.”

Kaleb turned serious “Well that’s not bad, but it might not be the same. Let’s start slow and see how we go from there.”

Roy nodded and put on the gloves and helmet. Under Kaleb supervision Roy welded the security gate for his family’s store. An hour into the job Farrah spoke up. “Just so you know, one of your neighbors has filed a noise complaint against you.”

“Should I be worried?” Kaleb asked as Roy completed a weld and moved to a different section.

“Not necessarily, you’re a registered Super doing work in your personal lab. While not technically illegal, I’d look for a proper place to set up. Or get used to your neighbors hating you.” Farrah answered.

“I would love a bigger space. But where would I even find a place?” Kaleb asked carefully watching Roy.

Farrah sounded excited. “Oh, the HLO has several spaces for sale. The various tech companies usually buy them up. But then HLO can sell them to tech-based Supers… for a premium.” She mentioned the last part so softly, Kaleb almost missed it over the welding.

Kaleb sighed as he signaled Roy to stop welding and turned to his communicator. “where am I supposed to get the money for that? Between crystals and equipment I’m practically tapped as it is.”

He could hear the shrug in Farrah’s voice. “Take more work from the HLO. It’s not a short-term goal, Just keep working at it. Unless you happen upon a good location to set up a lab, and it passes inspection. You still have to pay in that case, but at a discount.”

“Gramps worked out of an old airplane hanger.” Roy said wiping sweat from his brow and gulping down a glass of water. They took a short break as Roy told them stories of about his famous grandfather’s lab. Apparently Dr. Kersait wouldn’t settle for anything but the best in equipment. Roy explained that the Doctor was picky when building his grandfather’s exosuit.

“Was that the large frame with the rockets on its legs?” Kaleb asked referring to the photo in the Nova’s store.

Roy nodded. “That was the Mark III. Doctor Kersait built that one after the last Pan-American war. They were on the Mark VI when dad destroyed it.”

Kaleb grew excited. “So they stored the others somewhere?”

Roy sighed sadly. “No, Dr. Kersait kept the Mark I, it’s hidden somewhere. They used the Mark II as the frame for the III and IV. They got Mark IV crushed under a W.U.F Battle-Tank, and Gramps got the Mark V ripped in half by the Decimator.”

“The HLO offered to save the Mark I blueprints in the Hall of Supers, a few years backs.” Farrah added “But, Kersait’s estate opted not to donate the designs.”

“Damn, that thing would have been fun to study.” Kaleb said.

Roy gave a noncommittal shrug “That was grandpa’s thing. I think when I start my Hero career, I’d like to do it differently.” He finished his water and lowered his face shield.

“Who said it would be for you?” Kaleb asked as Roy started welding again. It was 30 minutes later when Kaleb got a surprise notification.

*Your Companion, Roy Nova learned the Metalworking skill*

Kaleb smiled at the message and continued offering advice and watching as Roy welded. It was another two hours before Roy finished. Once finished with the welding Kaleb had Roy help with threading the cupnex wiring at several equidistant places along the gate. Watching closely for any changes to Roy skills, it disappointed Kaleb that Roy didn’t learn a wiring skill.

After another hour the two of them were ready to roll up the flexible security gate and load it into Roy’s truck. As they moved it into his driveway Kaleb noticed that his enhanced smelter had finished with building itself. Taking a moment to look over the finished product, Kaleb found the three crystal power housings built into the inner wall. Setting 3 medium grade red crystals in to the housings, Kaleb figured he would wait until they got back from Nova Hardware.

The ride to the Nova family store was quick and uneventful. Giving a friendly wave to Mr. and Mrs. Nova, Kaleb and Roy set up the security gate. First checking the old slot in the ceiling to see if they could attach the new gate. They found that the old gate’s mount was inside the wall, luckily Roy’s grandpa was forward thinking enough to cut out a panel for easy access. Removing the remnants of the old gate, Kaleb and Roy hooked the new gate into the old housing.

Doing his best to avoid customers in the store Kaleb ran the wires behind the counter. Attaching them to an old light switch he mounted under the counter next to the button for the security gate. Finally he wired the yellow crystal housing to the newly mounted light switch. Making sure it all worked, to the amazement of several customers, Kaleb apologized for the shoddy look of the whole thing.

“Don’t go apologizing, you did us a favor.” Hank Nova said as he inspected the set-up. Marie was keeping an ear on the conversation while she worked the register. Roy was securing the wall panel they had used to access the security gate mount.

Kaleb double-checked the wiring saying. “I replaced what I broke.” Kaleb smiled down at the older man. Hank still wasn’t used to Kaleb’s voice. Kaleb could see Hank start every time he spoke, but he had the good sense not to mention it.

Hank shrugged his shoulders “Maybe, but I don’t think you had too much choice where that big robot threw you.” Hank smiled back at Kaleb. Roy finished securing the panel and walked up to the counter.

“What’s next, doc?” Roy asked.

“Next we had back to the lab and work, work, work.” Kaleb said giving the elder Nova’s a wave and heading for the door. Marie gave a sharp cough before he made it to the door drawing his attention.

She said. “Make sure you visit us if you need anything. If we don’t have it Hank can ask around for you.” She gave Kaleb a warm smile and went back to helping customers. Her change in attitude surprised Kaleb, but he figured she was happy someone was looking out for her son.

*Quest Completed*

You have successfully created defenses for Nova Hardware. Building on what was already there you have created a security gate capable of stopping your average criminal. Your affinity with Nova Hardware has risen.

Quest Grade: C

Reward: Nova Hardware now considers you a friend.

*Roy Nova’s Companion level up*

Roy is now a Friend.

Waving away the notification, Kaleb just smiled and headed back to Roy’s truck. Arriving back at his house, Kaleb opened his garage again. Kaleb grabbed the sword mold he had purchased and moved over to his shelving unit again searching through bins looking for what he needed.

Roy followed him asking excitedly. “Are we going to do some sword forging?”

Kaleb answered. “Not like you’re thinking, unfortunately I don’t have the facilities for a full on forge. That anvil was just the first step, I’ve got plenty of other stuff to buy.”

Roy turned quizzical. “Then what are we doing?”

“Casting.” Kaleb explained holding out the sword mold he had purchased. “I’m not sure what Cog made his bots out of. But, I’m guessing that making a sword out of their metal will be awesome.”

Roy looked surprised at Kaleb’s playful tone, eventually smiling and asking. “So what can I do to help?”

“Dig through the wood bin and find or cut down 4 pieces of wood a little wider than the palms of our hands.” Kaleb said spreading his robotic fingers wide and giving Roy an idea of what he was looking for.

Grabbing some suitable pieces of metal Kaleb loaded up his smelter and set about lighting a fire. He got a small fire going before he switched on the power crystals. Feeling the heat on his face, Kaleb jumped back as a funnel of hot air shot out of the oil drum. It heated the garage up in minutes, even with the garage door opened.

Kaleb had purchased the mold of a Roman gladius 33 inches long and 3 inches across. He figured he would only need one crucible of molten metal apiece for two swords. At least he hoped some, He did not know what Cog made the armor plates and pieces of. So the durability of the sword would be highly suspect.

Checking the crucible after half an hour he found that the metal had already melted was white hot. Calling Roy over, who was watching nearby. Kaleb talked him through grabbing the crucible with tongs and carefully pouring the molten metal into the mold. Once the crucible was empty Kaleb used his robot arm to dump more metal into it and had Roy place it back in the smelter.

“Now we have to wait for the metal to cool. It shouldn’t be long.” Kaleb said watching the red hot metal in the mold cool. Kaleb removed the clamps on the mold once the sword lost its red glow and, using long-nosed pliers, he removed his sword. He set the sword down on a nearby bench and turned back to Roy when he got a notification.

*Weaponsmithing Skill level up*

Chance to create a higher grade weapon increased to 2%

Chance to increase durability increased to 2%

The notification surprised Kaleb. He had learned Weaponsmithing yesterday after purchasing the skill book. He knew he learned skills fast, but he wondered if talking it through with Roy helped it grow faster somehow. As they prepared to repeat the process for Roy’s sword Kaleb said what they were doing and why.

Kaleb had Roy remove the second sword from the mold as he kept explaining. Sure enough, the system rewarded him with a notification, this time however it was for Roy.

*Your Companion, Roy Nova learned Weaponsmithing skill*

As Roy took the sword out at placed it next to the Kaleb’s he asked. “Why do the look like that, is it because of the metal we used?”

“No. Now comes the pain in the ass part. We remove that knob at the handle, then remove all those little extra pieces of metal around the edge, once that’s done we make the handles, and then its grinding, sanding, filing, and shaping.” Kaleb explained.

That’s how the pair spent their evening, polishing the blades, fitting wood handles on them, and filing off the rough spots. It was slow going in places for Kaleb, using one hand severely slowed his progress. Kaleb was just happy the blades didn’t snap or break during the process, showing they at least had a little durability. It wasn’t until hours later that Farrah spoke up for the first time in a while.

“Professor, a Detective Deckart has asked to connect to your communicator.” She said.

Remembering Deckart of the HLO, Kaleb said. “Put him through, please.”

Sounding hesitant she asked. “Are you sure you don’t want to go inside to take this call?”

Roy spoke up before Kaleb could. “I can handle listening to Super business. I promise I won’t try to join or follow the professor afterward.” he said while sanding down his sword.

“You heard the kid.” Kaleb said grinning trying to use the right amount of pressure on his own sword.

Farrah sighed. “On your own head then.” she said. There was a click and then Deckart’s low voice emanated from Kaleb’s communicator.

“Hey, professor, hope it’s ok calling you like this.” Deckart’s jovial voice rang through the garage.

“It’s fine Deckart, What can I do for you?” Kaleb said picking up a different grade of sandpaper.

Deckart’s voice became serious. “First let me apologize for Rick. He and Robert are my nephews. I thought he’d behave better than that.”

Kaleb shrugged, before realizing the other man couldn’t see him. “Its fine. No offense, but you get assholes in every game.”

Deckart sounded tired. “Doesn’t make it any less of a bitch when its family. But really, I apologize. And as a token of apology I want to invite you to undertake an HLO sanctioned quest with me.”

Kaleb was skeptical. “None of the others wanted to join you?” he asked.

Deckart gave a wry laugh responding. “Hell, Andrea has a day job, she’s a literal Journalist in the game. She plays to improve her writing skills before she joins the work force IRL. Rox is the same way, she joined the game to learn how to play guitar.”

Kaleb chuckled. “Rethinking your friend choices, detective?”

“No, not particularly. A detective lives and dies on his connections. I reckon knowing those two will pay off eventually.” Deckart answered.

A thought struck Kaleb. “What about Toni or even your nephews?”

Deckart gave a rough snort and said. “Hell, Rick is off getting Robert into some kind of trouble. They registered as partners, it does amazing things for sharing skills and skill growth. But, Rick keeps ignoring his Handler. They’ve been docked pay on both HLO quests they have been on.” Kaleb could hear the Detective’s annoyance at his nephews antics.

“As for Toni,” Deckart continued. “She’s off conquering the gangs in Barton Hills. Damn girls a pro. She is going toe to toe with some gangs and coming out ahead. My contact in the Police department said most of the neighborhoods that side of the 343 love her.”

Kaleb shook his head trying to imagine the small women crushing gangs. “Hearts and minds, detective. you’re right: she’s a pro.” Kaleb said.

“So you’re my last choice, HLO says I need a partner on this one. I don’t want to get strapped with some Powered babysitter. Please say yes.” Deckart pleaded.

Kaleb laughed as his arm kept going through the motions of polishing his sword. “I’m honored,” He said sarcastically. “What are we doing then?”

Deckart gave a cheer through the communicator and said “I’ll stop by tomorrow and fill you in. I don’t want to spend the night down there. We’ll take a taxi from your place.”

Surprised at the secrecy, Kaleb just shrugged his shoulders. “Ok, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After they exchanged goodbyes, Kaleb disconnected the call. The garage fell silent again as Roy and Kaleb continued sanding, grinding, polishing. Farrah talked with them for some time before she turned off her communicator for dinner.

“What do you want me to do tomorrow, Doc?” Roy said as they both sharpened their respective swords. It surprised Kaleb they got to this point so quickly. But he chalked it up to game mechanics making the whole process shorter.

Answering Roy’s question Kaleb said. “Well, our collection of scrap is getting low. Do you know of any junkyards we can get cheap scrap from?”

Roy smiled. “Give me a hard one, Doc. My dad has deals with a few Junkyard owners and used auto places. He can get what we need and I can deliver it with the truck.”

Kaleb nodded checking his credit account and saw he only had 200 credits left. Gritting his teeth he said. “See what your dad can get for 200 credits, I’ll pay him tomorrow before I help my friend.”

Roy nodded as he tested the edge of his blade with a finger again. The boy had cut himself three times testing the blade’s edge. Kaleb shook his head at the boy and flipped his sword over in its clamp to start on the other side. They continued in silence for a time before Kaleb deemed them finished. After rasping and wrapping the handles Kaleb checked the stats of his new sword.

*Bruiser Sword*

Slashing Attack: 45

Piercing Attack: 35

Upgrades: 0/2

Durability: 110/110

Grade: D

Description: A sword cast from the melted metal of Cog’s Robots. Melted at extreme temperatures most of the impurities have been burn away. Polished and sharpened, the sword is strong enough to cut through most flesh and maybe a robot or two.

Kaleb grinned wide once he saw the stats. Now this was a proper weapon. He gave a few practice swings as he saw Roy did the same with his own sword. Farrah then asked a question from the communicator.

“Did you make a sheath this time?” She asked.

Kaleb lowered his head, his good mood punctured completely. “Damn it!” He yelled into the garage. He heard Roy and Farrah chuckling as he looked through his bins for anything to make a sheath out of. The string worked for Lumpy but this was a proper sword. It needed a proper sheath.

Kaleb dug through the bins finding he had no leather or anything similar to make a sheath. Realizing he would have to get creative he turned to Roy saying. “Make sure you get leather tomorrow too.”

Diving into what he and Roy had been calling the Miscellaneous bin. Kaleb found string, a belt, a blood pressure cuff, the trigger mechanism from a toy gun, and a coffee can. Grabbing the belt and the blood pressure cuff, Kaleb moved to Roy saying “Need your hands.”

Roy looked confused, but he followed Kaleb to the bench. Instructing Roy to cut the tubes off the blood pressure cuff. Next Kaleb had him cut the cuff in half making it smaller while keeping the both sides of the Velcro intact. Using a heavy stapler they stapled the small pieces of the cuff together creating a loop that could he Velcro together. Attaching the loop to the belt with more staples, Kaleb had a sheath that could tear away if he yanked hard enough. Kaleb finished by lining inside the cuff with electric tape, to prevent the sword from cutting the cuff when he drew it.

Kaleb put the makeshift sheath on under his lab coat and tried to get a good look at himself in his stats window. The blue blood pressure cuff, oddly, went well with his lab coat. Turning to look at Roy, he found the boy staring at him.

“Geez, Doc. You don’t hesitant when you have a problem, do you?” Roy said grinning wide. “Y’know you can just buy a sheath, right?”

Kaleb shrugged. “Where’s the fun in that? Besides, if you can’t tell, being a Super is expensive.” He said waving his arm around his garage. He left the sword swinging off his left hip to test the sheath as they cleaned the garage. It was approaching 10 pm, they had spent the better part of the day just sanding and grinding their swords. Thankfully Farrah had sent them a pizza from one of her many friends who owed her.

Kaleb and Roy finished cleaning and Kaleb saw Roy off. Kaleb walked into his home and placed his weapons on his workbench again. He hesitated when he got to his communicator deciding to take it off in his room instead. Repeating his routine from last night, Kaleb locked down his house, took a quick shower, turned on his heat lamps, and fell fast asleep. Trying not to think about what trouble he would get up to with Deckart in the morning.